Eureka Stadium (Mars Stadium)

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Are they really going to attempt to host two football games in Ballarat next year in May and July? Where are they going to put all the people? The hill on the Eastern side of the ground will be completely out of bounds by then and removed. It will be a construction site well into 2026 with construction works on the new stands due to start from early next year. I hope that the council has a good back up plan like maybe some temporary scaffold stands at the Southern end of the ground. I think that the Ballarat games should be suspended until the stadium works are finished. It seems stupid to schedule Port Adelaide and Adelaide to play games there in front of 6-7000.
 
Are they really going to attempt to host two football games in Ballarat next year in May and July? Where are they going to put all the people? The hill on the Eastern side of the ground will be completely out of bounds by then and removed. It will be a construction site well into 2026 with construction works on the new stands due to start from early next year. I hope that the council has a good back up plan like maybe some temporary scaffold stands at the Southern end of the ground. I think that the Ballarat games should be suspended until the stadium works are finished. It seems stupid to schedule Port Adelaide and Adelaide to play games there in front of 6-7000.
The Bulldogs have a contract with Ballarat Council, they can't just not play there.

I do enjoy the thought of two of my least favourite teams playing in Ballarat in July, at that time it's colder than a step mothers hug there
 

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The Bulldogs have a contract with Ballarat Council, they can't just not play there.

I do enjoy the thought of two of my least favourite teams playing in Ballarat in July, at that time it's colder than a step mothers hug there
True about the contract, though they could've just suspended it for next year and offered some sort of compensation for the distruption
 
True about the contract, though they could've just suspended it for next year and offered some sort of compensation for the distruption
That would be true, but the Bulldogs contract finished this year, unless someone knows something that I don't? The Bulldogs only renewed our most recent contract with the Rat up until 2024. I can understand us being cagey at this point in time cause Norfs contract with Hobart was pretty much up and they may well have come sniffing back around Ballarat to cut our grass in 2025 before we renewed. We do have some breathing space with Ballarat now though cause Norf have done a deal with the Devil in WA. I look forward now to listening to Caro Wilson now packing Norfs bags off to WA every week. She had them first packed off to the Gold Coast 15 years ago, then off to Hobart every week for the last 10 years. I'm waiting for her to start demanding to have them shifting to WA. Geezus that woman hates Norf. It's pathological 😅:D:D:D
 
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The Western Bulldogs will remain Ballarat's 'home team' for a further three years after the club extended its partnership with the city.

Works to expand the stadium and other projects in the Ballarat Major Events Precinct will begin in early 2025 and are expected to be completed in 2026. The stadium will remain operational while grandstands containing 5000 new seats are built.

 
Was at Mars Stadium on Sunday and half of the stadium has been closed off with temporary fencing (Red) pending the construction works that are soon to begin. This will be in place throughout the remainder of this year and into early next year.

Mars Stadium closed off.png
 
Was at Mars Stadium on Sunday and half of the stadium has been closed off with temporary fencing (Red) pending the construction works that are soon to begin. This will be in place throughout the remainder of this year and into early next year.

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So where does the 'away' cheersquad sit/stand
 
So where does the 'away' cheersquad sit/stand
Adelaide ;)

No seriously ... I was surprised by this too. The ground will merely have a capacity of 5000 this season until the works are finished, so why on Earth are they (The AFL and Western Bulldogs) even considering holding games here until the works are done? Forget the contractual obligations and simply off-set the contractual obligation for the next four years to 2026-2029.

I would have expected that the construction might have been staged around the oval to cordon off the main hill first in order to conduct the earthworks necessary to remove the hill and construct the two new stands perhaps prioritising one stand first in order to ensure that capacity never dips below 8000. When the first stand is completed, finish the second one quickly brining capacity back to 10000, and then do the earthworks to re-instate the southern standing boundary with its new capacity of 3000.

Anyway, we'll assume that it's being done this way for a reason, and of course that is likely because it is the quickest and easiest way to do everything within the allocated budget. The budget is still limited. I understand that $80 million has been funded to do the stadium upgrade as well as to build the new adjacent athletics complex and new parkland landscaping over the remainder of the former Showground site.

Ballarat_Major_Events_Precinct_development_2026.jpg

Image source: Wikipedia
 
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So not only does Adelaide get screwed by having to play here again (5th visit since 2019 - in comparison the Bulldogs have only played Adelaide in Adelaide 3 times since 2014), they have to play while the stadium will be half closed for redevelopment works.
 
So not only does Adelaide get screwed by having to play here again (5th visit since 2019 - in comparison the Bulldogs have only played Adelaide in Adelaide 3 times since 2014), they have to play while the stadium will be half closed for redevelopment works.

Adelaide haven't played St Kilda in Melbourne since 2019 and have played them in Adelaide five times (including Round 1 this year) since then. Wheels and roundabouts.
 
So not only does Adelaide get screwed by having to play here again (5th visit since 2019 - in comparison the Bulldogs have only played Adelaide in Adelaide 3 times since 2014), they have to play while the stadium will be half closed for redevelopment works.
The impression that I get is that the SA supporters (Port and Crows) don't mind the Ballarat games because they are a bit closer to Adelaide and is a reasonably easy 6 hour drive. Rather than driving for eight hours to get to Melbourne and negotiating its traffic at the end of your trip.

Every team gets screwed in one way or another. I know that North cop a lot of late Sunday games and will only play 6 actual home games out of 12 games in Melbourne this season, and only one of those 12 appearances will be played at the MCG. Conversely Collingwood don't get the benefit of as much interstate travel or having to play in front of parochial opposition supporters as much as other teams do, so I can't see that as a positive for their resilience if they have to travel for interstate Finals. The Bulldogs bemoan the fact that they get very few MCG games as well.

Because of the Mars' reduced capacity for at least this season, the AFL should have alternatively considered scheduling VFL games at Mars instead to allow some of the VFL teams the opportunity to rest their grounds during this season, particularly if we get a wet Winter in Melbourne. At least Mars would still offer under cover seating for 5000 which is a perfect capacity for VFL football. Everybody would be a winner.
 
Every team gets screwed in one way or another. I know that North cop a lot of late Sunday games and will only play 6 actual home games out of 12 games in Melbourne this season, and only one of those 12 appearances will be played at the MCG.
Huh? North play 7 home games at Docklands out of 13 Melbourne based games this year, and 3 of those 13 Melbourne games are at the MCG. Only 5 of their 14 currently scheduled games are on a Sunday, 2 of those being in Melbourne.
 

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Adelaide ;)

No seriously ... I was surprised by this too. The ground will merely have a capacity of 5000 this season until the works are finished, so why on Earth are they (The AFL and Western Bulldogs) even considering holding games here until the works are done? Forget the contractual obligations and simply off-set the contractual obligation for the next four years to 2026-2029.

I would have expected that the construction might have been staged around the oval to cordon off the main hill first in order to conduct the earthworks necessary to remove the hill and construct the two new stands perhaps prioritising one stand first in order to ensure that capacity never dips below 8000. When the first stand is completed, finish the second one quickly brining capacity back to 10000, and then do the earthworks to re-instate the southern standing boundary with its new capacity of 3000.

Anyway, we'll assume that it's being done this way for a reason, and of course that is likely because it is the quickest and easiest way to do everything within the allocated budget. The budget is still limited. I understand that $80 million has been funded to do the stadium upgrade as well as to build the new adjacent athletics complex and new parkland landscaping over the remainder of the former Showground site.

Ballarat_Major_Events_Precinct_development_2026.jpg

Image source: Wikipedia
They have to do all the renovations this year so that it’s ready in time for the Commonwealth Games. 👍
 
They have to do all the renovations this year so that it’s ready in time for the Commonwealth Games. 👍
Nah ... They have to do all the renovations in time before the next State Election so that Jacinta can be there right on queue and the photo ops to cut the ribbons at Mars and all of the other venue builds in Bendigo, Shepparton, Geelong and Gippsland. ;) ;) ;)

I reckon that Mars will be done first in Ballarat because they also have to open the Athletics Centre (Which will open around September next year), the new footy oval and club facilities at Miners Rest and the new North Ballarat Sports pavilion at the 2nd Mars Stadium oval. It's all political now. :)
 
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Huh? North play 7 home games at Docklands out of 13 Melbourne based games this year, and 3 of those 13 Melbourne games are at the MCG. Only 5 of their 14 currently scheduled games are on a Sunday, 2 of those being in Melbourne.
Okay, so one game either way on each of my quoted stats, BIG FLAMING DEAL! :rolleyes: Three Sunday games (only confirmed up to Round 15 mind you, and probably more after that) and seven lousy home games in Melbourne all season. Geezus, no wonder their membership is crap. The competition is definitely stacked and biased to the teams with the bigger memberships while teams like the Dogs, Roos, and Saints are seemingly treated as though they are there to just make up the numbers.

Screenshot 2025-02-06 184824.png

Anyways, back to my original point which was that the Bulldogs games shouldn't be played in Ballarat this year. They should be put off a year when the reno's are done and the contract extended to 2029. :thumbsu:
 
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Nah ... They have to do all the renovations in time before the next State Election so that Jacinta can be there right on queue and the photo ops to cut the ribbons at Mars and all of the other venue builds in Bendigo, Shepparton, Geelong and Gippsland. ;) ;) ;)

I reckon that Mars will be done first in Ballarat because they also have to open the Athletics Centre (Which will open around September next year), the new footy oval and club facilities at Miners Rest and the new North Ballarat Sports pavilion at the 2nd Mars Stadium oval. It's all political now. :)

The Bulldogs play in Ballarat for political reasons. It was a 2014 election promise devised by the local MP without the approval of the North Ballarat FC Board.
 
The impression that I get is that the SA supporters (Port and Crows) don't mind the Ballarat games because they are a bit closer to Adelaide and is a reasonably easy 6 hour drive. Rather than driving for eight hours to get to Melbourne and negotiating its traffic at the end of your trip.

Every team gets screwed in one way or another. I know that North cop a lot of late Sunday games and will only play 6 actual home games out of 12 games in Melbourne this season, and only one of those 12 appearances will be played at the MCG. Conversely Collingwood don't get the benefit of as much interstate travel or having to play in front of parochial opposition supporters as much as other teams do, so I can't see that as a positive for their resilience if they have to travel for interstate Finals. The Bulldogs bemoan the fact that they get very few MCG games as well.

Because of the Mars' reduced capacity for at least this season, the AFL should have alternatively considered scheduling VFL games at Mars instead to allow some of the VFL teams the opportunity to rest their grounds during this season, particularly if we get a wet Winter in Melbourne. At least Mars would still offer under cover seating for 5000 which is a perfect capacity for VFL football. Everybody would be a winner.

Have Port played at Ballarat.

And among the Crows supporters I know, Ballarat is about as popular as going to Geelong
 
The Bulldogs play in Ballarat for political reasons. It was a 2014 election promise devised by the local MP without the approval of the North Ballarat FC Board.
I was aware of that. But as you are well aware, originally it was North Melbourne who were associated with North Ballarat FC through VFL and wanted to play AFL games at the ground. The Brumby government committed to doing that back in 2010, but it was canned by the Baillieu government and resurrected again for the 2014 State election by Dan Andrews, who for reasons known only to God made a deal with the Bulldogs who had made no secret of the fact that we wanted to play in Ballarat despite North already being well established there. Oh well, the rest has been history. I like the Bulldogs playing here, but I just don't want them to play at the venue while its capacity is so low. It isn't fair to the supporters of either team that is playing there. I seriously don't understand why the contract can't be deferred for one year. Contracts are only written agreements that can be re-negotiated if all stakeholders are on board.
 
Have Port played at Ballarat.

And among the Crows supporters I know, Ballarat is about as popular as going to Geelong
I think that have played the Western Bulldogs there three times since 2017. They and Adelaide usually get one game there once every two seasons. The other two teams who regularly play there are the Gold Coast and Giants. Ballarat has a different vibe to Geelong which is obviously very parochial toward its own team, where as Ballarat does tend to be more accommodating and welcoming to visiting teams and their supporters. The vox pop from the local media who speak with visiting supporters is that most seem to like the country feel of the ground (despite the general cold) and the friendlier mood and banter of the supporters, particularly on the hills.
 
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I think that have played the Western Bulldogs there three times since 2017. They and Adelaide usually get one game there once every two seasons. The other two teams who regularly play there are the Gold Coast and Giants. Ballarat has a different vibe to Geelong which is obviously very parochial toward its own team, where as Ballarat does tend to be more accommodating and welcoming to visiting teams and their supporters. The vox pop from the local media who speak with visiting supporters is that most seem to like the country feel of the ground (despite the general cold) and the friendlier mood and banter of the supporters, particularly on the hills.

Adelaide have played there 4 times so far (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023), and are scheduled to play there again this season
 
Adelaide have played there 4 times so far (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023), and are scheduled to play there again this season
Thanks for the correction :thumbsu: Though I don't feel that any team gets necessarily screwed playing there under normal circumstances, but yes, this year the Dogs and their opponents will get screwed. :( The local council released a statement only a few months ago stating that the redevelopment works would only moderately reduce capacity. I interpreted that at the time to mean that they would cordon off a section of the main hill and build the first stand, open that and close off the remainder of the hill and build the second stand. Once the second stand was complete then they would close off the old scoreboard hill and area under the scoreboard to complete the earth works to join the second stand to the old hill.

However it's the project managers who decide how they will sequence the removal of the hill and subsequent construction works. I am guessing that the theory behind doing everything at once is in order to get the job done more efficiently and perhaps in a shorter time.
 
At North Ballarat Sports Club this afternoon. They have started removing the main hill. The trees have all been removed along with the stairs from Gate 2. Plus the concrete path and fence across the top have been taken off.

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Eureka Stadium (Mars Stadium)


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